Mail-bag



(No Model.)

MAILBAG. No. 308,952. PatentedDeo. '9, 1884.

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Unirse Sifrarns Partnr rrrc CLARENCE W. CORNELL, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

MAILHBAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,952, dated December 9, 1884. Application led January 17, 1883. (No model.)l

To all whom, t may concern.-

Be itknown that I, CLARENCE W. CORNELL, of Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of mail-bags, such as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The nature of the invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into eifect can best be explained and understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved mail-bag with its cover removed; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the bag with the cover in its locked position, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cover detached.

The form ofthe mouth of a mail-bag is important forthe reason that when in use for receiving the mail from the distributers the bags are ordinarily suspended from a horizontal rail, and the mail is thrown into the appropriate bag from a distance; hence it is a desideratum not only that the mouth of the bag should be non-collapsible, which is old in itself, but that it should also beef such form that each bag will make close connection with the adjacent one--that is to say, without intervening openings through which the mail might iall between the adjacent bags and not enter either. I therefore form the top and bottom of the bag with rigid approximately reetangular snpportsl` l The letter A represents the body of the bag, made of flexible material, usually leather and in one piece, and having its meeting edges joined together in the ordinary manner.

To the top of body A is secured, by means of rivets, a metallic band, B, of oblong contour, thereby forming a rigid oblong mouth for the bag of the form substantially shown. To the lower end of the body I also secure a metallic angle-iron, G, conforming in contour with the band that forms the mouth, and having ilanges c c,at right angles to one another, for securing it both to said body and the bottom D ofthe bag, which is done by means of rivets, as shown.

It will be observed that the bottom D of the bag is secured to the part dof the angle-iron, while its turned-up edge is secured to the part c, and that the rivets which pass through said part c also secure the sides of the bag. I attach importance to this part of the invention.

The purpose of this triangular (in cross-sec tion) band is to give a rigidness to the bottom, and at the same time give it a shape that will most satisfactorily prevent the retention of mail by any bending in or pressing together of the bottom, as is usually the case in mailbags of the style now in use. This band also serves as avery convenient means for securing the body and bottom of the bag together. It will be borne in mind that the bottom is made of heavier leather than that used in the construction oi' the body, and that its edges, as at d, are turned up on the body, and riveted with it to the flange c of the band, while it is also riveted to the liange c of said band, thereby securing the body and bottom firmly to the band and producing a very strong and durable bottom for the mailbag.

E represents the cover, and consists of a metallic angle-iron, Ref a contour corresponding to the mouth of the bag, and formed with right-angled flanges ff in substantially the same manner as the flanges of the band D, the langef forming the lid for the cover, and the flange f allowing the top of the cover, which is oi' leather, corresponding to the bottom in thickness, to be secured in place by means of rivets, as shown. This lid should be large enough to lit easily over the mouthband of the bag, as shown in Fig. 2, The cover is intended to be entirely detached from the bag when the latter is `opened for removing or taking in mail matter; and the manner of its connection with the bag is as follows: By means of an aperture, f2, at the center of one side of the lid the cover is adapted to be slipped upon a pin, b, upon the mouth-band B, the pin being firmly secured to said band at the center oi" one of its sides and project ing at aright angle therefrom, as shown. Upon that side of the band diametrieally opposite the pin b is arranged a spring-actuated pin, b2, passing through an aperture in the IOO Q oass band, and adapted,when the cover is shut, to be forced through an aperture, f3, in the lid of the cover by means of a leaf-spring, b3, secured upon the inside of said band B, as shown, and thus hold the cover inits closed position. The pin b2 is rectangular in crosssection, the aperture f 3 corresponding with it, and is provided at its inner end with a rectangular head, b", to check its outward movement, and to prevent the cover from bending or warping the mouth-band when striking the pin. A case, G, secured to the inside of the mouth-band, protects the pin and its spring from injury, and yet allows sufficient play of the spring to operate the pin when securing the cover upon the bag. pin b2 is made inclined to its outer end, so that in shutting the cover with moderate force'its lid striking the pin will force the latter back and hold it until it registers with aperture f, when the leaf-spring will force it into said aperture and hold the cover in closed position. The under side of the pin is also inclined, but more abruptly, so that a light pressure at its outer end while raising the cover will release the pin from contact with the aperture in the lid of the cover and allow the latter to be readily removed. IVhen the cover is closed, it will be locked by means of a padlock passed through therend of pin bf.

The advantages gained by having a mailbag constructed with my above-described improvements will be so obvious to those familiar with the present modes of construction that I do not deem it necessary to give them here in detail.

I attach importance to the shape of the bag-that is to say, of the rectangular rigid mountings-to the angle-iron,and the mode of The upper side of securing it to the bag body and bottom and to the cover as described, and its securing means.

I am aware that trunks, boxes, the., have been made into rectangular forms and provided with rigid metallic bindingpieces ofan L- shape; but the material of such boxes, ne., has not been ilexible, nor has the function of the binding-pieces been to preserve a rectangular form to an otherwise flexible body.

I am also aware that struck-up bottoms having flanges by which said bottoms have been secured to flexible bodies are not broadly new with me, and these constructions are not sought to be covered in this application.

Inno case known to me has a continuous L- shaped piece been used in connection with a iieXible body,and a bottom having upturned flanges been employed, as and for the purposes set forth in this application.

7What I claim isf- I'. In combination with the body A and bottom D, the continuous angle-iron C, having flanges c and c', the body being secured to the ange c, and the bottom secured to both flanges c and c, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with the cover having perforations fsf", the band B, having pin b, and frame G, the pin b2, having inclines, as shown, and the spring b, all arranged and serving as and for the purposes set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 22d day of December, 1882.

CLARENCE XV. CORNELL. 

